Book carriage and protector



(No Model.)

L. C. LEITH.

BOOK GARRIAGE AND PROTECTOR. No. 399,759. Panterited Mar. 19, 1889.

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LAlVREN'CE O. LEITH, OF GALVESTON, TEXAS.

BOOK CARRIAGE AND PROTECTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 399,759, dated March 19, 1889.

Application filed July 2 5, 1 88 8.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE G. LEITH, of Galveston city, in the county of Galveston and State of Texas, have invented a new and Improved Book Carriage and Protector, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention consists in a book carriage or frame, substantially as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims, to facilitate the separate drawing out of books from shelves or cases on or in which they are usually arranged in rows; also facilitating the putting of the books back to their places, and to protect the leaves and cover or binding of shelved books from injury, as hereinafter set forth.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,

in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure i. represents a top or plan view of a book carriage and protector embodying my invention. Fig. '2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same upon the line .1 .1: in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a rear end view with a book in its place upon the carriage. Fig. 4 is a front-end view of the carriage, and Fig.5 is a transverse section thereof upon the line 1 y in Fig. 1.

A is the basepieee of the carriage, of a flat oblong construction corresponding in length to the width of the book it is designed to carry, or thereabout, and in its width to the thickness of the book, or thereabout, also being faced on its upper surface with araised tablepiece, I), of less width; also shorter in front than the main or under portion of the base A, thereby leaving a grooved or depressed-ledge portion, 72, outside of the table-piece b for the lower end of the cover or binding of the book to rest upon, while the tablepiece 1) serves to support the bottom edges of the leaves of the book, as shown in Fig. 3. This construction constitutes an irregular-famed platform, and has fitted or inserted within it from beneath transverse rollers c 0, arranged to project slightly below its under surface, and whereby it is supported or run in and out on the bookshelf, and it is provided at its front end with a pull-piece, d, of any suitable material and construction, but preferably bent or turned up at its outer end, as shown, and whereby it not only serves as a convenient means for Serial No. 280,979! (No model.)

manipulating the book-supporting carriage, but as an indicating device ofthe name of the book or n umber of the volume of the book the carriage is used to support and protect, as shown in Fig. a.

The main portion of the carriage may be made of any suitable material or materials, including wood and metal, and the rollers either of the same or different materials such as hard rubber or hard wood, for instance. These irregular-faced roller-carriages, which will be noiseless in their action, may be made in any number of sets of different sizes to adapt them to various-sized books.

It will be readily seen that if a book, B, be seated. on this carriage, with the lower end of its cover or binding g resting on the depressed ledge portion 71 of the carriage outside of the table-piece b, and with its leaves 8 resting by their lower edges upon said table-piece, not only may the book, by drawing upon the pullpiece (I of the carriage, be readily removed from its place on a bookshelf, but it will be protected and supported while in its place on the shelf. Thus the leaves of the book resting upon the raised portion or table-piece Z) will be prevented from settling down to a level with the lower part of the cover of the book, as they are apt to do when unsupported, and which by pulling forward on the top part of the back causes the binding to become loose or disjointed. The lower part of the cover or binding of the book will also be protected from wear, especially when drawing the book out from the shelf, the roller platform-carriage taking the wear, and the book may be readily set onto or lifted. from the carriage, as required.

This roller-platform-carriage device essentially differs from amere book-coverproteetor composed of a metallic covering of the lower front and rear corners and the intervening edge of heavy books to protect said parts, and fitted with lower rollers to facilitate manipulation, such as have before been used.

I am aware'that stationary stands or supports for bookssueh as easelshave been provided with or had mounted on them special or extra supports for the leaves of the book, and whereby the stand was made to form both a cover and leaf support, the coversupport being below the leaf-support. These double supports, however, are parts of the book stand itself and virtually constitute shelves or fixtures, they being in no sense carriages designed to wheel a book in and out from its place in a book-stand, and by so doing protecting the restingmargins of the covers and leaves from wear by friction, as the book-carriage which forms the subject of my invention does, and which, being provided with rollers, not only facilitates putting the book in and out of its place, but when being drawn out of the book-stand insures, by the ease with which it runs, the book it supports and protects coming out with it, instead of being left behind, as aplain slide not running on roller-supports would be apt to do.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A roller platform-carriage for books, composed of a base-piece having a longitudinallycentral raised table-piece adapted to support the leaves of the book, and a depressed-ledge portion outside thereof adapted to support the cover of the book, substantially as specified.

2. The Within-described book carriage and protector, consisting of the base-piece A, having a raised table-piece, b, constructed to form or leave a depre sed ledge, 72, the rollers c 0,

and'the front pull-piece, (Z, as and for the puro poses herein set forth.

LAWVRENOE C. LEITH.

Witnesses:

H. B. GOODMAN, A. A. VAN ALSTYNE. 

